<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Gathering the Arsenal by Hannah_Girl</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22866886">Gathering the Arsenal</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hannah_Girl/pseuds/Hannah_Girl'>Hannah_Girl</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supernatural</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Apocalypse world, F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Torture, PTSD, angel extinction</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 06:27:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>15,464</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22866886</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hannah_Girl/pseuds/Hannah_Girl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Apocalypse world Charlie arrives with three of her best fighters: Jo, Eileen, and Hannah, to team up with the boys to defeat Michael. Meanwhile, Gabriel is working on a plan to save the angels from extinction. But Gabriel has a little surprise and the boys have to learn to work with four hardened, shell shocked, trauma ridden women who are nothing like their real-world counterparts.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Castiel/Hannah (Supernatural), Charlie Bradbury/Claire Novak, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester, Jack Kline/Original Female Character(s), Jo Harvelle/Dean Winchester</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Fanfiction Writers United Adventure Collection, Fanfiction Writers United Angst Collection, Fanfiction Writers United M/F Collection, Takeout Tacos</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Disclaimer: Please note that tags may change as the story goes. Things evolve, things get darker, angstier, etc. If there are any trigger warnings that pop up, I will warn of the particular chapter and I will change the tags accordingly. So just keep that in mind, that I don’t necessarily know how dark things will get at this point as I tend to let my muse do the writing. Also, note that side pairings are often known to change in my stories too, so be aware of that as I will alter the tags for that too. Nothing is certain.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>When Dean parked the impala in front of the massive stone structure almost completely obscured from view, he didn’t know what to expect. From what he could see, it looked exactly like the bunker from Kansas, but the ominous forest it was buried in was nothing like the wide-open prairie they were used to, except for the fact that they were both located so far from civilization that getting to them was no easy feat.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So just what was this anonymous tip you received, Sammy?” Dean asked as the two of them approached the entrance, their guns both at the ready. A thick misty fog hung in the air, and all around them were the brilliant orange, red, and yellow leaves of a forest in the midst of autumn. The thick smell of birch and pine permeated through the air.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just what it sounds like, Dean,” Sam explained. “An anonymous tip. I’ve been mapping these bunkers. Apparently, the one in Kansas is connected to a network of men of letters bunkers that are scattered all over the world. Many are abandoned, like this one, and we hold the only keys that will open them. I found a few books that list some of their locations and they are all in remote areas like this.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Great,” Dean said with a smirk, as Sam inserted the key and opened the door. “I guess we found ourselves a whole lot of vacation spots.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Sam focused as they cautiously entered the compound, their guns ready for anything that might take them by surprise. After the incident with the other bunker in Jersey, neither of them were going to take any chances.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The interior of the bunker was just as Dean expected. It was identical to the one in Kansas in nearly every way. The brothers stood on the balcony level entrance overlooking the large main room which was lined with books, filing cabinets, and some antique chairs and conference tables. Even the furniture looked the same.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I guess whoever built these things weren’t going for originality,” Dean commented as they descended into the main hall.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Just as they made it to the main hall, a slim figure stepped out from behind one of the bookcases on the rear wall. Dean recognized the red-haired woman and immediately lowered his gun.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Charlie?” he murmured as the woman he’d come to know as a sister approached them, a grim look on her face. “You aren’t our Charlie are you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, I’m not,” she confirmed. Dean had only been back from the apocalypse world for a few weeks now, but he was still reeling from having experienced what life was like there and having encountered Charlie Bradbury. Seeing her had brought back so many feelings of guilt and remorse over the way </span>
  <em>
    <span>his</span>
  </em>
  <span> Charlie had been so terrible butchered and how he and Sam had failed her in her time of need.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Now, suddenly, after so many years, she’d been thrust back into their lives, into his life anyway, since Sam hadn’t seen her- until now.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re from the other world,” Sam guessed, his tone of voice betraying his own feelings at seeing Charlie again. “The apocalypse world.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How’d you get here?” Dean asked as they moved to stand in front of her. “How long have you been here?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We just arrived,” Charlie explained. She wore a dark green jumpsuit, a belt across her waist bore an array of blades, pouches, and supplies. In many ways, she resembled the LAARP fantasy world character their Charlie had liked to roleplay as. But this was another woman altogether. This was a Charlie who was hardened to the harsh realities of the world she’d come from. The flirty, timid, geeky Charlie that they knew had been replaced by a cautious, grim version.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We?” Sam asked as he and his brother gazed around, looking for any other inhabitants.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“My team and I,” Charlie explained. “They’re out surveying the area and laying out defenses.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Defenses?” Dean questioned. Charlie motioned for the brothers to sit down at the wooden conference table and she sat across from them. “When I saw you, you said you didn’t want to come to this world. That you and your friends needed to stay and fight.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah that was before we stole Michael’s ingredients for opening the portal,” Charlie pointed out with a shrug. “Some of the ingredients. Dean, we’re here because you need our help.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Help with what?” Dean started to see where this might be heading. He was just about to say as much when they were interrupted by a loud crash coming from somewhere in the back of the bunker.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The three of them were quickly on their feet; their weapons were swiftly drawn. Dean noted that Charlie had brandished a large angel blade as she faced the noise.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sam go check the perimeter outside,” Dean ordered. Sam nodded and turned back for the entrance of the bunker while Dean and Charlie headed cautiously down the hall.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Another crash and a loud grunt came from one of the bedrooms. The bedroom that had they been in the Kansas bunker would be Dean’s room. The door was left slightly ajar, and Dean swiftly kicked it the rest of the way opened and frowned at the sight.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Castiel was sprawled out on the floor while a brunette woman in a grey blazer coat threatened him with an angel blade. When the two of them both looked in their direction, Dean blinked. She was familiar. How could Dean have forgotten the little angel cult Castiel had found himself the leader of back in the Metatron days?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh, Hannah, right?” Dean asked, lowering his weapon. The women frowned at the recognition of her name, but she quickly turned back to Castiel, eyes fixating on him as she moved back, letting him slowly get to her feet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes,” she said timidly, not looking at Charlie or Dean, but focusing entirely on Castiel. Both angels looked as though they had just seen a ghost. And in Castiel’s case, that might as well have been true since Hannah had been dead for almost three years.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hannah…” Castiel breathed, equally fixated on her. “How can…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She’s with me,” Charlie blurted out quickly to Castiel. Dean gave her a quizzical look, and she quickly corrected. “I mean… she’s not </span>
  <em>
    <span>with</span>
  </em>
  <span> me, not like that. She’s part of my team. She’s kinda our angel. And you…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“From the apocalypse world?” Castiel surmised, glancing at Dean who nodded in confirmation. Hannah nodded.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There… was a Castiel in my world,” she said softly before shyly fixing her gaze to the floor. “He’s dead.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That is unfortunate,” Castiel replied as he moved over to stand with Dean. “And… awkward.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean thought he saw some kind of emotion flash through Castiel’s blue eyes, but he couldn’t quite tell. The angel didn’t have an extensive range of emotions, and he often had difficulty expressing the ones he did feel. But there was definitely something there. Dean never knew how close Castiel and Hannah had gotten years ago when they worked together, Cas had often kept his excursions when he wasn’t with the Winchesters a bit of a secret, though Dean had suspected they had gotten close.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did you secure the rest of the place?” Charlie asked Hannah as the four of them headed back to the main room. Dean noted that Sam hadn’t returned yet and felt concerned, but concentrated on Charlie, as he suspected she wasn’t paying a house call here.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes,” Hannah replied curtly as they all took a seat back at the wooden conference table. Dean noted that Hannah no longer made eye contact with Castiel, and in fact, seemed to be trying to avoid his attention, as she sat next to Charlie, almost in a defensive posture, scooting her seat as close to Charlie’s as she could get it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How did you find us, Cas?” Dean asked as the angel sat next to him. Castiel shrugged.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I monitored the movements of the impala on occasion,” he explained. “I admit I did not expect to find another bunker, nor did I expect to find Charlie or… Hannah…” he spared a glance in the angel woman’s direction, but Hannah kept her focus.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hannah’s been part of my team for about nine years,” Charlie explained. “Ever since we liberated her from a death camp.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“A what?” Dean blinked. He didn’t like the sound of that and Hannah seemed to visibly flinch at the mention of it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s not important right now,” Charlie said, sensing Hannah’s discomfort. “Let me get to the reason we’re here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah I’ve been waiting for that,” Dean said as he glanced in the direction of the entrance, wondering what was taking Sam so long. “You said something about Michael and us needing your help. Care to explain?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, Michael is looking for a way to get into this world so he can do to you what he’s done to us,” Charlie explained. “He nearly succeeded until my resistance group, and I stole the ingredients he needed. We used them to get here and help you prepare. There’s nothing stopping him from gathering the ingredients again, Dean and it’s only a matter of time.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean and Castiel exchanged grim glances. They both knew what this could mean. If Michael got to this world, he could wage the same kind of human exterminating war that Charlie had just come back from. Dean shuttered to think of the invasion. He looked at Charlie.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So you just came to warn us?” he asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not just warn you, prepare you,” Charlie replied. “My team and I have been fighting angels all of our lives. We know what to expect. So that’s the mission. Prepare for the invasion.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Got it,” Dean said. Just as he said that he heard the door creak open behind him and glanced up at the balcony deck just as Sam emerged, hands up against his head.  Dean frowned, then his eyes lit up as he saw the two women who were holding his brother at gunpoint.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay, he’s with us,” Charlie called up to them. Then he glanced at Dean. “Dean Winchester, Sam, Castiel, meet the rest of my team. Eileen Leahy and-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Jo,” Dean murmured, gazing up at the blonde haired woman who lowered the weapon she had fixed on Sam. She shot him a harsh glare when he said her name, but he didn't care. “Jo Harvelle.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I just wanted to point out again that this is an old story that I am reviving. When I wrote most of this story, it was based on early season 13 because that's when I had written it. At that time, there was little info in canon regarding the apocalypse world, so I filled in a lot of blanks. I know we've learned more about the apocalypse world since then, but I don't plan on updating it all that much, so disregard anything canon that takes place after mid-season 13.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Dean knew that the apocalypse world was just like their own, but it came as a surprise every time he was confronted with a long lost friend he'd thought he'd never see again. Bobby, Kevin, Charlie, and now Jo? But this wasn't the Jo Harvelle he had known so many years ago. This woman, like Charlie, had been changed by the hardships that she'd endured in her world. The way she looked, the way she carried herself, told him that she'd seen some unspeakable horrors in her lifetime.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Charlie had brought Sam up to speed on Michael's plans. Clearly, she was the leader of the four women, and they looked to her as a source of strength. As the large group of them sat together around the conference table, Charlie sat at the head of the table.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"I think we should break up into teams," she was saying as Jo sat to her right and Dean sat to her left. "Jo here is the expert on weapons, specifically, angel killing weapons."</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"What sort of angel killing weapons?" Castiel asked, glancing over at Jo with slight concern.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"All sorts," Jo replied with a smirk. Dean watched her as she stood up. She wore khaki green trousers and a black tank top; her wavy blonde hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail. Dean remained silent, but he couldn't help letting his eyes roam over her bare shoulders and pale skin. She was skinny, alarmingly skinny, her skin hugged her bones, and Dean could make out a few old scars on her upper arms.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Dean must have let his eyes linger too long because she fixed him with a sharp glare before turning to retrieve a duffel bag that had been resting on the floor behind her. She placed the bag on the table and started unloading its contents. Dean's eyes widened as she began unloading what seemed like an endless array of assault rifles, bullets, handguns, knives of almost every shape and size, large bottles of holy oil, and piles of grenades.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"Damn," Dean muttered as he glossed over the pile of weapons. He glanced at Sam who seemed equally impressed by the stockpile.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"So uh, these all kill angels?" Sam asked as he grabbed a knife, looking it over carefully. "Because we've found that the usual thing doesn't really affect angels."</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"These will," Hannah was eager to point out. "I assisted in their creation." Castiel glanced at her, no doubt disturbed by the enthusiasm she seemed to harbor towards killing her own kind.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"Every bullet and every knife is coated with a special poison," Jo explained. "Holy oil mixed with a special blend of frankincense and myrrh blend which we discovered angels don't have much of a tolerance for."</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"Well in this world, you won't necessarily be killing angels," Sam pointed out. "A lot of them we've met have been dicks, sure, but not all of them."</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"I don't usually stop to ask questions," Jo shot back with a sneer. "If it has wings I kill it."</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Dean winced at the hatred etched in her expression as she said that. It was clear that the women at the table, even the angel woman, seemed to harbor nothing but hatred for angels. Dean felt more than a little uncomfortable for Castiel, who looked equally disturbed by this.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"I have not heard of myrrh and frankincense having any effect on angels," Castiel pointed out as he examined the arsenal.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"Fine then, go ahead and test it on yourself," Jo said hotly, sneering at Castiel with pure venom in her eyes. Castiel shrunk back a little, holding up his hands.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"Alright house rules," Dean began. "No one ganks angels unless you are sure they are working for Michael, got it? And no one ganks that angel," he gestured to Castiel. Hannah only looked away, not saying anything, while Jo merely rolled her eyes and sat back down.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"Okay everyone, calm down," Charlie's confident voice brought everyone's attention back to her. "We're supposed to be planning, right? Dean, we don't know about your world, and you don't know about ours, so we're all going to have to fill one another in."</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Dean glanced at the brunette sitting in between Jo and Hannah who hadn't spoken at all yet. Dean remembered Eileen from a year ago when she'd worked with them, and he knew Sam had kept in touch with her up until her death, but he never really got to know her that well, and he had no idea what to make of this Eileen, other than she seemed to be the more reserved of the bunch.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"So what's your specialty, sweetheart?" Dean asked, talking slowly as he remembered that although Eileen was deaf, she could read lips.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"I fix things," she explained. "And I'm good with technology. And I'm probably the only hunter left on our earth that actually hunts monsters."</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"She rigged a few computers and cell phones for us since the angels destroyed Earth's wifi capabilities," Charlie explained. "She figured out how to hack into the abandoned satellites in orbit."</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"What do you mean actual monsters?" Sam asked curiously. Eileen shrugged.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"You know, ghosts, vamps, things like that," she explained as if Sam should have known. "With everyone focused on angels, they forget that those things still exist. Ghosts especially considering they sort of outnumber humans these days."</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"Good point," Sam said with a slight grin.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"Eileen was solitary before hooking up with us," Charlie explained. "She was orphaned long before the apocalypse broke out."</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"Alright," Dean said, slapping his hands together purposefully as he glanced around the table. He felt like he was at some kind of office board meeting and he was starting to get a little bored. "Who's ready for some action?" He eyed a few of Jo's weapons, spotting a few blades and an assault rifle.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"This is serious, Dean," Sam warned. He turned to Charlie. "What do you need from us, Charlie?"</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"Well I think we should work in groups," Charlie responded. "Eileen, I think you should help Sam find all the bunkers."</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"I already tracked down a few," Sam said. "But it would be hard because they are scattered all over the world. I mean it's not like we can go check out each one of them."</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"Well we have bunkers in our world," Eileen explained, signing with her hands as she spoke. "Men of letters bunkers. They're all abandoned since there aren't any more men of letters, but I was exploring an old one, and I discovered they all have a little trick."</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"Trick?" Dean raised a brow. "What sort of trick?"</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"There is a key that leads into other dimensions," Eileen spoke slowly. "Maybe you’ve come across it?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Sam replied. Dean remembered their encounter with the witch of Oz and the portal that led to Oz. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well you can use it to transport to the other bunkers,” Eileen explained. “Makes it a lot faster to travel.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"Our own teleporter," Dean looked at Sam and grinned. "Who knew? See Sam; I told you I was Batman."</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"Anyway, I want you two to find all the bunkers and set of defenses in each of them, they'll be our bases," Charlie explained. "Oh and rig them up the best you can, I want to know the minute Michael is in this world."</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"I have a few tricks," Eileen said confidently. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Castiel spoke up. "I would like to find Gabriel," he offered.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"Cas, Gabriel doesn't want to be found," Sam explained. "If he did, he never would have left."</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"I believe his captivity has… what's the word… spooked him. I believe I can convince him and I think I know of some places I can look for him."</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"Hannah, go with him," Charlie instructed, and Hannah visibly tensed, looking at Charlie with alarm and fear in her eyes. Dean frowned. The angel woman seemed mortified at the prospect of going anywhere with Castiel. "Sorry, Hannah, but we all have to do this," Charlie said, sympathetically.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Castiel seemed upset at Hannah's reaction to working with him but said nothing for it. Both angels seemed uncomfortable with one another. Dean wondered what might have happened to Hannah to make her so terrified.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"I cannot fly," Hannah said softly, looking at Castiel for only a second before quickly turning away. "My wings are broken."</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"I have a vehicle," Castiel pointed out. "We will find him." Hannah only nodded, carefully avoiding eye contact with him.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Dean glanced at Jo and gave her a wink. "Guess I'm working with you, baby," he said with a teasing smirk. She raised a brow at him for his boldness.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"Call me baby again, and I'll show you work," she warned before looking at Charlie. "What do you have for me?"</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"Rig some weapons and get some supplies," Charlie ordered. "We'll need lots of it. Take charge of the defenses of every bunker. Teach Dean some of those angel killing moves."</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"I've ganked a few angels in my time," Dean pointed out. "This isn't my first dance."</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"Yeah well my weapons are special," Jo pointed out. "I know how to rig them up."</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"Okay I think everyone should coordinate with each other," Charlie said. "Sam and Eileen with the bunkers, Dean and Jo on weapons, Castiel and Hannah on finding the archangel, and me on raising an army. Let's focus on the mission and win this war."</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>That was the one thing they could all agree with. Dean shuddered at the thought of this world turning into the desolate wasteland that he had seen when he was in their world. He felt conflicted about working with Jo. Although he couldn't help a little flirtatious teasing, he fully intended to take her seriously. He owed her that much, after all.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>He still blamed himself for her death at the hands of hellhounds, and he also knew that he was partly to blame for the life this Jo had to endure. After all, it was his mother who said no to Azazel in their world, thus preventing his and Sam's birth, and they were unable to stop this. Somehow, that made it their fault. He needed to make it right for her.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"What about you, Charlie?" Eileen asked curiously. "What will you be doing?"</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Charlie turned to Dean. "I'm assuming you have some sort of hunter's network here?" she asked. Dean nodded. "Well, I'll get in touch with them. We need an army."</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Everyone seemed clear on their orders. Dean was impressed by this new take charge, Charlie. She knew how to rally the troops, and it was clear from Jo, Eileen, and Hannah's actions, that they all looked up to her, as they obeyed her orders without question, no matter how they might be bothered by who they were working with.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>"Check back here in a few days," she instructed as the group dispersed to carry out their orders.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I just wanted to say thank you to all those who left kudos and comments so far, I really appreciate it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Castiel stepped on the gas of his old ‘78 Lincoln. He was lucky to have found it again after nearly two years. After his death earlier this year, he had been unable to retrieve his truck, but was happy to find this car in a junk yard, in need of rescue.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Glancing at the passenger seat, Castiel had mixed feelings about working with Hannah. The two of them alone together in this car brought back memories of their travels together, or the friendship that had developed between them. But it also brought back memories of her violent death a year later, something he hadn’t been able to forgive himself for.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hannah sat against the passenger side door, gazing out the window. Silent. She had refused to talk or to even look at him for the past few hours. Castiel hadn’t wanted to question her or to pry into her past, but it bothered him that this was not the Hannah he had known all those years ago. The confident, strong-willed, brave soldier Hannah he had known had been replaced by this shy, timid, withdrawn angel who seemed terrified of him. He wasn’t quite sure how to talk to her, so he thought of their mission.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gabriel can likely be found in a place of opulence and iniquity, it’s where he had been hiding before.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She said nothing at all, just glanced in his direction, acknowledging him. Castiel sighed. “Hannah,” he said, “you don’t… I’m not going to hurt you. It would be best for this mission if we were able to be open with one another.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know you,” she responded softly. “You are not the Castiel from my world. You are just another angel…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Castiel glanced at the road ahead, pondering her words. “Yes, I believe that was established on our first meeting,” he replied. “Tell me about him. The Castiel you knew. Where you close?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As Castiel waited for her to respond, he found his thoughts wandering to heaven and the angels here. On his recent meeting with Naomi. He’d harbored animosity towards Naomi for what she’d done to him in the past and had been less than pleased at seeing her alive, but he’d put that aside the moment she told him how few angels there were. He was one of the last of his kind and nothing could sooth the immense sorrow he felt and knowing this. He knew the angels held little love for him, that they mostly loathed him, but he felt, deep down, no matter what he’d done, he needed their approval. That’s why he continued to walk the fine line between loyalty to the Winchesters and loyalty to the angels. Because all he wanted to be was an angel and even after all the things they’d done to him, knowing he may never get the chance to win back their approval hurt in ways he never thought were possible.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We worked together,” Hannah’s voice brought Castiel back from his thoughts. Perhaps she was the one angel in creation who didn’t hate him. She didn’t know him enough to hate him. At least that’s what he thought. “We were colleagues.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Under Michael?” Castiel kept making quick glances in her direction as he kept his eyes on the road. She never once turned to look at him, she kept her eyes glued to the scenery outside the passenger window. But he saw her shudder ever so slightly at the mention of Michael.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Under Raphael,” Hannah corrected. Castiel raised a brow. He hadn’t considered that Raphael might be alive in the alternate world, considering the fact that he was dead in this one.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Raphael,” Castiel repeated. “Then he had a seperate agenda?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He was in charge of certain… camps where humans were kept,” Hannah hesitated, as if it was causing her distress to continue with this talk. After a long pause on her part, Castiel let out a sigh and pulled the car over to the side of the road. She looked at him with apprehension.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know what crimes the angels are guilty of in your world,” Castiel began, turning his full attention on her. “I don’t know what Raphael did, what Michael did, I don’t know what crimes my counterpart may have participated in-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Crimes?” she gasped with a confounded look, as if she could hardly imagine he’d think that. “Your counterpart committed no crime.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then why are you so afraid of me?” Castiel insisted she tell him. He could sense it was painful and he hated forcing her to confess anything to him, when it was clearly traumatizing for her, but he didn’t see any alternative. They would find it difficult to work together on this mission if he didn’t at least try to get through to her somehow. That Hannah he knew, she must be in there somewhere.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’d rather not say,” she insisted, looking away from him again, trying hard to ignore that he was even there. Castiel sighed in frustration and reached out to touch her shoulder- something he instantly regretted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She might have jumped completely out of the car if there wasn’t a roof above her. She gave out a yelp, “No, no!” she exclaimed, shrinking away from him as fast as she could. She fumbled with the car door, trying to get free, nearly falling out of the car when the door finally gave way.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Castiel quickly got out of the car and hurried around it to her as she scrambled to her feet and braced herself against a tree, holding her arms up in defense as her arms began to glow white.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Castiel stood his distance, holding up his hands cautiously. “Are you going to blast me with holy white light?” he asked as he watched the brilliant light form along her arms and hands. Her body trembled in fear as she squeezed her eyes shut in a grimace. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry,” Castiel offered, not daring to come closer, even though he desperately wanted to reach her somehow. To calm her fears. He’d never imagined that she would have such a reaction to his touch. What could have happened to her? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Slowly the light in her arms faded and she lowered them, letting her body slump slowly down the tree as she curled into herself, hugging her arms around her knees and bracing her head against them. Castiel watched her for a moment, then cautiously moved closer, kneeling down in front of her. He waited. Said nothing. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He died,” she said after a time, her voice muffled as she buried her face in her knees. “The Castiel I knew… he died.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You mentioned that before,” Castiel replied slowly, he tried to search for words. He tried to reach for her again, but stopped. He realized then what a broken, frail image of an angel she was. Angels were strong, hardy beings, and they were not overly emotional beings. It took a lot to reduce one to this. Castiel thought of Gabriel. How broken he had been. It made Castiel sick to think someone had done something to Hannah to bring her to this level of trauma.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I want to help you, Hannah,” he urged as she lifted her head to look at him. He winced in sympathy when he saw tears glistening in her blue eyes. She looked at him, as if noticing him for the first time.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He and I were among the angels in charge of Raphael’s camp,” Hannah explained slowly. “Michael has launched a campaign of extermination upon humans, but a few had been put aside for forced labor and in case Michael may have use of them. Raphael was in charge of these camps and he employed angels to guard the humans in the camps.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Castiel frowned, disturbed that his own counterpart would have taken part in this abuse of humans. But he stayed quiet, encouraging her to continue. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It bothered me how the humans were being treated,” Hannah admitted. “I started to help them. At first it was just little things. Bringing them food, blankets… then I started to help them escape.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And you were caught?” Castiel listened to her intently, not liking where this was heading. Hannah nodded.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He caught me. My Castiel. I suppose he had suspected it. I should have been more careful. But I convinced him to help me and he did, for awhile but… then Raphael caught us.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Castiel winced. He didn’t have to imagine what Raphael might have done. “It’s okay, you don’t have to say any more,” he said. “You were brave, Hannah. It was right of you to help them.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hannah shook her head. “My Castiel, your counterpart, was put to death for helping me. I got him killed! And I had to watch… what they did to him, it wasn’t quick. And what they did to me after he was gone.” Hannah looked away, squeezing her eyes shut.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Castiel watched as she stayed, huddled in against herself. There was still a lot she wasn’t telling him, but he didn’t need to know. Whatever Raphael had done to her had affected her so much, she couldn’t even bare to be touched. No wonder she was so afraid of him. Castiel felt nothing but rage when he thought of Raphael and Michael and found himself hoping they found a way to get in here because when they did, he’d be ready for them and he’d make them pay for what they had done to Hannah.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hannah,” he urged softly. She looked at him as he reached his hand out cautiously, waiting for her to take it. She looked at it hesitantly, as if she wasn’t quite sure it was really there. Reluctantly, she put her hand in his and he stood up, hoisting her up to her feet. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I hate angels,” she said, a bitter tone in her voice, raising her eyes up to meet his. “I’ve hated them for so long, I don’t think I could ever stop hating them. So I joined the human resistance and fought to help destroy as many as I could. Is that wrong of me, Castiel?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Castiel honestly couldn’t answer her. He couldn’t imagine hating his own kind. Even after the things he had personally endured because of them. Naomi’s memory altering, the countless times he’d been hunted, tortured, and rejected. Even after all they’d done, he didn’t hate them. Until now. Hearing what Hannah had been through made him sick. He felt revulsion for the angels in the apocalypse world. That they could be capable of such abhorrent things, to hurt Hannah the way they had, and then having the audacity to think of her a traitor when she had the courage to stand up for humans.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know,” he said after a while. “Hannah, I would be lying if I said I didn’t need your help. I do. Our people, here, in this world. The angels are dying. They’re going extinct. There are less than a dozen of us left. We are the last of our kind.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hannah stayed quiet. She squinted with disbelief, “I will help,” she agreed. “I’ll help you find Gabriel. And I will follow Charlie’s orders. But I won’t say I’m doing it for the angels.” Castiel nodded and together, uneasily, they headed back for the car.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <span>“That was interesting,” Sam said as he put a hand on his torso, hoping to stop his stomach from flipping around inside of him. He glanced at Eileen as the two of them stood in one of the empty car stalls in another men of letters bunker.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah it takes some getting used to,” Eileen said, signing with her hands as she spoke. “It’s not the smoothest way to travel, but it’s the quickest.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sam recovered enough to stagger slowly out of the car stall and glance around the garage. There were a few classic cars; Sam didn’t think it looked any different than the bunker in Kansas, or the one in Maine that they had just come from. In fact, he wouldn’t even know where they were without Eileen to tell him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So how do we know this thing worked?” Sam asked as he followed her up the stairs into the main part of the bunker.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We figure out where we are,” Eileen replied as if Sam should have known that. “According to the map, we should be somewhere in Central California.” He smirked as he turned to her. She was still the Eileen that he remembered. Independent, strong-willed, and tough. Unlike the others of her team, who were clearly dealing with psychological trauma, Eileen seemed none the worse for wear.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can I ask you something?” he asked as he sat down at the table and watched her fumble through her pocket to pull out a cell phone and began tinkering with it. She glanced at him quizzically.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shoot,” she said, focusing her attention on his lips as he signed to her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know you all must have seen some terrible things over there,” he began, starting out slowly. He didn’t want to make assumptions or to pry into her past. “You don’t seem to have jumped on the ‘murder all angels’ bandwagon like the others in your group have.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eileen shrugged. “Oh I don’t mind taking out those winged bastards,” she corrected. “They destroyed my world. And I’ve spent more time in one of their prison camps than I’ll ever want to. But I suppose I’m taking it a little easier than Jo or Hannah Or Charlie because I didn’t lose anyone I was close to. My parents were already dead. Killed by banshees when I was a baby. I’ve been on my own most of my life.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sam listened to her, watching her sign as she spoke. He smiled as he followed along with her signing. He’d taken sign language when he was at Stanford, but he had never been very good at it. Meeting Eileen, </span>
  <em>
    <span>his</span>
  </em>
  <span> Eileen a few years ago had compelled him to brush up on it; he’d picked it up pretty good and had even taught a few things to Dean. When Eileen died so suddenly, Sam had continued to study it; somehow he thought it would honor her memory.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah I get it,” Sam said, signing back to her. “Being on your own. It still must have been hard.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“In a way, it was easier,” Eileen replied. “Before the apocalypse, I grew up an orphan in Ireland. I spent a little time with the woman who found me; she raised me to be a hunter. But when she died, I went from foster care to foster care. I grew up to be independent, but it was difficult when society still expects you to find a job and a white picket fence somewhere. After the apocalypse, I felt like I could live the way I chose to.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That makes sense,” Sam said. He watched her from across the table. A few times, he had to remind himself that she was not the Eileen he knew from before. She was just like her, both in appearance and personality. Sam felt glad that the horrors of the apocalypse hadn’t destroyed her spirit. Her strength, her jovial attitude, her determination and devotion to the people she cared about, it had all survived unscathed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So how did you get involved with working with Charlie?” Sam asked. He glanced around the bunker, knowing they should probably figure out where they were and what their next move would be. But he allowed himself to be a little sidetracked in exchange for getting to know Eileen a bit better.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Jo,” Eileen explained. “She and I were in a prison camp together for about a year. She was pretty shaken up after they killed her mother. With Hannah working on the inside and Charlie planning an invasion from the outside, we all managed to escape. The four of us have been inseparable ever since. Charlie, Jo, and Hannah, they are the sisters I never had.” Eileen frowned at that, looking down at the table. Sam waited for her to make eye contact with him again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What is it?” he signed, looking at her with concern.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well I told you I handled the apocalypse well because I didn’t have anyone left to lose,” Eileen explained. “But now I do. My sisters. It scares me a little.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sam got up and came around the table to stand in front of her. Kneeling to her level, he reached up and placed a hand on her shoulder, “hey I can’t say this world is any safer than the one you came from,” he said. “We’re in the middle of our own impending apocalypse here, with Lucifer loose and the angels going extinct. But I can promise that Dean, Cas and I will do everything and anything to protect you and your family. Because Dean and Cas, they are my family and I know how much it hurts to face losing them.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eileen studied his face for a moment, a serious look on her face, before eventually breaking into a small grin. “Maybe we will be the ones protecting you,” she signed. Sam chuckled at that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I have no doubt,” he said sincerely. “You’d kick any demon's ass.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Damn right, I can,” she confirmed. She put her hand in his, and he stood up and hoisted her to her feet. He couldn’t miss the chemistry building up between them, even in the short time they’d known each other, but he turned his focus to the task at hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We should find out where we are,” he said. He grabbed his duffel bag, handed her hers, and headed for the exit.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Coming out of the bunker, they were greeted with the sun bearing down on them. The weather was a stark difference to the cool, breezy autumn weather in Maine. It was late September, but Sam had been in California enough times to know that the heat was typical. As was the rolling hills and the brown grass they found themselves surrounded in.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The bunker was situated on top of one of these rolling hills. Below them was a two-lane highway and what looked like some kind of service station or restaurant. Sam spotted a few cars scattered in the tiny parking lot surrounding the building. He glanced at Eileen, “you hungry?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eileen shrugged. “Seeing as how I’ve lived off of grilled whatever we can find for the past eight years, I’m always hungry.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sam glanced at his cell phone, taking note that it was about nine in the morning, California time. He glanced at Eileen, “well then we have to get you a breakfast you’ll never forget.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They walked the short distance down the hill, through the drought-stricken barren grass, up to the front of the diner. There was a row of semi trucks off to the side, signaling to Sam that this was probably a diner that catered to travelers and truckers. Seeing as how there were no other buildings as far as he could see up and down the highway, it was probably the only place around.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Stepping inside, Sam and Eileen were greeted by a simple hometown diner with a western feel. If Sam didn’t know any better, he would have thought they were back in Kansas. A middle-aged woman in a waitresses apron hurried over. “Sit anywhere you like,” she said and Sam, and Eileen moved to sit at the nearest booth. “You two look like a nice young couple, just passing through are you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Where are we?” Eileen wanted to know as the waitress brought them some coffee. The waitress looked confused by the question.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’re lost,” Sam explained, trying to come up with a cover-up story. “Our car broke down a few miles away, and we’re just trying to get back to a town.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The waitress looked at them suspiciously, “let me get you folks something to eat,” she said quickly, her eyes darting around the diner as if she was looking for someone. “I’ll get you the house special, how’s that?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh well we could use a menu,” Sam suggested, puzzled at the unexpected discreet way the waitress was talking to them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No need, the special’s on us, just tell us how you like your eggs, hon,” the woman said quickly. Sam glanced at Eileen who just shrugged, squinting at the woman.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh over easy,” Sam said reluctantly. The woman made a quick b-line back to the kitchen. Sam turned to Eileen. “I wonder what that was all about,” he asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His questions were answered a moment later when two men in button down shirts came over and simply slid into the booth with them. Sam was a little surprised as he quickly moved over to accommodate the red haired man who sat next to him while the dark bearded man sat next to Eileen.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No one invited you,” Eileen pointed out. The men looked her over, no doubt noticing the way she spoke and the way she watched their lips.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you hunters?” the bearded man said in a hushed voice. Sam raised a brow, taken aback.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How’d you know?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Because you’re liars,” the red haired man said simply. “You didn’t come from the road you came from that bunker up on that hill.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Sam opened his mouth to protest, the bearded man held up a hand. “Don’t bother,” he explained. “We may not be able to get inside, but we know when someone’s in it. Who do you think owns the land it’s on?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And Percy here has it rigged to send us a notification when someone ever goes in,” the red haired man said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This place is disguised as a truck stop,” Percy pointed out. “But a lot of hunters pass through here. We recognized your M.O. as soon as you came in here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sam sighed. “Well since you know, maybe you can tell us where we are,” he asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re in Central California on highway 41, about 25 miles away from Paso Robles,” Percy explained. “And we have an assignment for you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Assignment?” Eileen asked. “We’re already working on our own assignment. It’s called save your asses from the world ending.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We know all about Lucifer and Michael,” Percy said. “Do you think news like that doesn’t get around pretty quick in hunter’s circles. Anyway, we have something for you that could help us all out. In Paso Robles, there is a train station. It runs from LA to San Francisco. We tracked some vamps to the area and we think the nest is somewhere near the train station.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So you want us to find the nest?” Sam asked. “If you are all hunters, why can’t you do it yourselves?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Because the vamps, they knew you were coming, Sam Winchester,” the red haired man replied. Sam frowned at the recognition. “We caught one and interrogated him, it seems they knew you’d be coming sooner or later. Does Samuel Campbell ring a bell to you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sam froze, biting his lip at the mention of his grandfather. He nodded slowly. “Yeah he was my grandfather, he’s dead.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well apparently you two went on quite a killing spree back in the day and the vamps are out for revenge.” Percy said. “This is your chance to clean up whatever trash you tracked into our town. Do it quickly.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With that, the two men got up and left just as the waitress brought them their food. Eileen looked at Sam, clear questions in her eyes. This wasn’t what Sam was expecting and he didn’t want to be reminded of the year he had gone without a soul. That entire year was still mostly blank to him and he felt a sickening feeling in his gut over what he and Samuel Campbell might be guilty of in this town.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I uh, don’t really want to talk about it,” he said to Eileen. “Just… how are your vampire killing skills?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not bad,” Eileen replied, her voice betraying her skepticism as she kept her eyes fixed on him. Sam realized there would be questions later, and he couldn’t help the feeling of guilt that welled up inside of him whenever he thought of all the things he may have done or said when he didn’t have a soul. He had a bad feeling he was about to be confronted with another dark piece of that year and he wasn’t going to like what he was going to find.</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Dean glanced behind him as Jo trailed behind him, clutching her rifle protectively like it was a lifeline. Eyes darting nervously at the trees, tensing at every little noise, it was clear she was expecting something to come jumping at them at any moment.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After parking the impala about a few miles back where the forest got too dense, they’d headed out into the forest in search of a haunted mansion. It was early evening and the sun had just begun to make it’s descent.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Look, I know how it is in your world,” he spoke out as he slowed his pace to match hers, lugging his duffle bag over his shoulder. “I paid a few visits.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How long did you stay?” Jo asked, glancing at him with a slight sneer as she walked. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Only a few days each visit,” Dean admitted. He clutched his own sawed off shotgun casually in one hand as he walked. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well then you don’t know anything about what the past eight years have been like,” Jo snapped defensively. “You only saw bits and pieces.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean sighed at her defensive attitude. He had to keep reminding himself that she didn’t know him, she wasn’t the Jo he’d known before. Somehow, he wanted to see that the Jo he knew was still in there, but this girl had been changed. Hardened, no doubt, but the past eight years of living an apocalypse. She was an anxious, defensive, but most of all, angry woman.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why are we looking for some mansion anyway?” she demanded as she walked beside him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Apparently it’s some 17th century orphan house for girls,” Dean explained as he recalled the conversation he’d had with the local hunters earlier that day. “The girls and the teachers were accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake back in the day. It’s probably haunted. But according to my sources, it’s also the location of some local hunter’s secret arms cache.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They walked together in awkward silence for what seemed like ages. Dean glanced beside him every now and again only to see Jo ever on alert, clinging to her rifle. He was just about to say something, trying to fill the silence, when he noticed the silence around them. No birds chirping, no sign of life whatsoever. Dean was instantly on alert, raising his shotgun up protectively.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Something’s out there,” he murmured quietly, instinctively moving closer to Jo, ready to defend her. When he got a little too close, she huffed in annoyance and shoved him away.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Back off, White Knight,” she growled as she lifted her rifle. “Worry about yourself.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean rolled his eyes at her attitude. He recognized it though. His Jo probably would have reacted the same way to him trying to protect her. She had always been fiercely independent, if a little reckless due to her youth and lack of experience. But this Jo had none of that reckless streak. She was a honed warrior. There was nothing amateur about her anymore and Dean had to keep reminding himself of that. Dean was impressed, but also a little sad. This was a girl who had grown up too fast. He knew how that felt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was then as he glanced towards the trees that he saw a shadowy figure burst through onto their path. Dean aimed his weapon at the thing as it scrambled up to it’s feet, revealing itself in it’s full grotesque form.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Werewolf,” Dean said. Before he could say more, Jo reacted, shooting the snarling werewolf man multiple times in the chest.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait!” Dean grabbed her. “That won’t help,” he explained, but there was no time for a lesson on werewolves because the bullets didn’t even slow the creature down and Dean pulled Jo back just in time before it launched itself at her. The two of them turned back and ran through the forest, but were halted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>More werewolves burst from the bushes. Dean reacted quickly, pulling two silver knives from his belt and handing one to Jo. “Silver,” he explained. He tried to dig into his pack but he didn’t have the time to fish out his silver bullets. The werewolves were closing fast. As they came in, Dean saw an opening and grabbed Jo’s hand. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Come on,” he exclaimed and bolted off into the forest, the dense bushes lashing up against him. Jo hurried after him and the werewolves gave chase. They ran and ran, Dean, beginning to feel winded, glanced around for cover. He spotted the clearing and the ominous building almost hidden in the brush. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I think that’s the house,” he said, pointing. “Hurry!” The two of them ran full speed for the dark wood building, vines growing all over it, decay etched into the wood and bricks. Dean yanked the door opened and slammed it shut as soon as he and Jo were safely inside. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean gasped, catching his breath. As he glanced around, he knew this place wouldn’t hold the werewolves out for long. It was clearly in an advanced state of decay, paint faded from the walls, the wooden floor broken up and barely walkable, the furniture ruined. And Dean had remembered his contacts telling him the place was haunted. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Come on,” he told Jo, leading her into what looked like the kitchen area. It was made of stone and stucco, 17th century wood burning ovens and open pits lined the walls, as did rusted pots and pans and tableware, there were a few fancy tables. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean put his bag on the table and quickly fished out the bullets, handing her some and loading his own weapon, he quickly went about prepping the place. He pulled out some salt and some powdered silver and began lining the doorways, windows, and any other access way.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This should keep those douches out there and us in here,” he told her. When he finished, he turned his attention to her as she loaded her rifle, gasping for breath after their run. Sweat glistened on her body and Dean couldn’t help but admire her attractive form. She wore a pair of faded green khaki trousers and a black muscle shirt tank top showing off her bare arms and her slender frame. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a loose pony tail, out of her face. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What are you looking at?” she sneered and he turned away quick, slightly embarrassed about being caught staring. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nothing,” he lied before turning his attention to his bag. He felt her eyes on him and turned back to her, her brown eyes practically drilling a hole into him. He sighed. “Look we might be stuck here for a while, at least until dawn. The werewolves should leave us alone then and the spirits can’t get past the salt lines.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Those were werewolves?” she wondered as she cleared a spot on one of the tables and sat down, raising a brow at him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Dean was surprised she didn’t seem to know anything about werewolves. “What you don’t have them in your world? The Jo from this world knew what they were.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah well I’m not her,” Jo shot back. “And I do know what they are. My father was a hunter, I probably grew up the same way she did. Roadhouse for hunters, father killed in a hunt, that whole thing. Until the apocalypse. Michael and his army did a pretty good job of cleansing the planet of monsters and humans alike. Werewolves and vampires were mostly extinct, I don’t know anyone who's actually seen one in the past eight years.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Guess Sam and I would be out of a job in your world,” Dean relaxed a little. He knew they’d have to leave the kitchen eventually to find the weapons cache and eventually to deal with the werewolves, but for now, they were safe. That is if the smell of mold and decay and the stale air didn’t get them out first.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah no offense but you probably wouldn’t last long in my world,” Jo pointed out as Dean positioned himself precariously onto the floor, leaning against the dilapidated cabinetry, as he dug through his bag for what they might need for the night. He frowned.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What makes you say that?” he asked. “Do I look like an amature to you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She shrugged, a small smirk spreading across her mouth. “Maybe,” she said. “You strike me as someone who hasn’t dealt with many dystopian worlds.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll have you know I spent a year in purgatory,” Dean replied with a feigned look of indignance. “Not to mention that lizard jungle place. Oh and the reason we haven’t had any apocalypses here is because my brother and I prevented them. More than once.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jo sighed and looked at her hands, “must be nice,” she  murmured. “Not having to live in caves, eating rat soup, seeing everyone you care about killed.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean winced at that. “We’ve lost plenty,” he pointed out. He thought about the last time he’d seen Jo and winced more before looking across the room to her. “Hey Jo, I’m sorry,” he said, trying to convey in sincerity what he was feeling, and what he felt the second he’d seen her. He knew she wouldn’t know what he was talking about, and sure enough, she gave him a puzzled look.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sorry for what?” she asked. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just… our Jo, the Jo from this world. She deserved better.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jo studied him for a moment before moving to sit down on the floor beside him, turning to face him. Dean gazed at her, feeling uncomfortable at having her suddenly so close to him. Within arms reach after so many years. He’d almost forgotten the way she’d made him feel back then. Although they’d kept each other at arms length, always teasing but never acting on their mutual attraction, it was always there, though they both tried to deny it. Now, after losing her, and after all these years, all those feelings were threatening to come rearing back. He knew it wasn’t her, this Jo wasn’t his Jo, but she looked, she acted… the way she smiled, her sarcastic bantering with him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Was she one of those people you claimed you lost?” Jo asked seriously. He nodded and she continued cautiously. “What happened to her?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hellhounds,” Dean replied, wincing at the memory, before turning away from her gaze, suddenly feeling the need to clean his shotgun. “About eight years ago. I guess it was about the time our two worlds separated.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sorry,” she offered with a shrug. There was a pause, a silence between them before Dean reached into his bag and pulled out a bag of miscellaneous candy bars.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Here,” he offered with a kind smirk. “Field rations.” She took a few and as he watched her eat, he couldn’t help but smile. “When’s the last time you had a fully loaded bacon cheeseburger and a beer?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jo groaned at the thought. “Damn don’t talk about that right now,” she said. “I’d give my own soul for a cheeseburger. I don’t remember the last time I had a nice steak, a rack of ribs, fries…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean chuckled. “Well you’ve met the right man,” he said. “I’m the king of red meat and booze. And pie, of course, love me some pie.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah and I’m sure you aren’t limited to apple pie are you,” Jo said, raising a brow suggestively as she waited for him to catch onto her subtle lewd reference. Dean chuckled, catching on. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah what makes you say that?” He tried to play it off as though he didn’t know what she was talking about.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t play dumb, I know what you’ve been looking at since you first saw me,” she accused, a sly grin gracing her lips. “And don’t think it’s going to get you anywhere either.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ve been a perfect gentlemen,” Dean insisted, feigning innocence. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now's the part where you tell me that you and your world Jo were passionate lovers and she couldn’t get enough of you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean sighed at that, turning serious. She frowned at his expression. “No,” he corrected. “It wasn’t like that. Jo and I were friends. That’s all. Well aside from the raging crush she had on me.” He smirked a little at the last bit and she rolled her eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jo shrugged, and thought about something for a moment, her brows arched in thoughtful concentration. “Well if we survive this, you owe me a burger,” she said. “And I can’t say I’m into the whole lovey dovey stuff, I really don’t have time for it. And it never pays off anyway, best not to get close to anyone. But if you’re interested in any kind of ‘last night on earth’ action, I might take you up on it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean frowned. Normally he’d be all over an invitation to a no strings attached romp in the hay, but this was Jo and it shocked him that she even suggested it. She was so casual about it. And he surprised himself when he found himself shaking his head. “Yeah normally I’d be all over that,” he admitted. “But I’m going to have to think about it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jo scoffed. “What, because I’m not your Jo and you’d never disrespect that poor innocent girl like that?” her tone of voice changed as she narrowed her eyes at him. “Oh please.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey don’t talk about her that way,” Dean warned defensively. “You don’t know.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah whatever,” she whirled away from him, turning her back to him, curling into herself. They stayed silent for the rest of the night after that, both lost in their own thoughts, the hours passing away.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dean listened to the stillness of the house. He thought he heard movement in the distance, but he was confident about his salt lines. Eventually, Jo drifted off to sleep, curled uncomfortably against the cabinet. Dean sighed and draped his jacket over her as he sat staring into the darkness, wondering what would come next.</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Armed with the address and an extra key, Charlie made the 30-hour drive from Maine to Kansas in two days. Using a small car she had managed to hotwire, she had a lot of time to think. She never thought she’d see the beauty of a peaceful world again. The change of scenery as she crossed the country was awe-inspiring after the past eight years.</p><p> </p><p>It had been a long eight years, and Charlie never imagined she’d be the leader of this stalwart women. Jo, Eileen, and Hannah had become her family, her people. The months and years spent living in caves, dodging angel raids, living off rats and wondering if they were going to live to see the light of the next day, Charlie had made a vow that no matter what, she’d protect the women who had become her sisters.</p><p> </p><p>And now her sisters were scattered about this other world, this tranquil, peaceful world, but even with the distance between them, Charlie knew they would continue to operate as a single unit. They’d work together to do what they always did. Survive.</p><p> </p><p>As Charlie pulled her car up to the bunker, she gazed around the open prairie, nervously. Wide open spaces were the last place you’d want to be located in her world. Angels could rain death on you from the sky. Caves, mountains, and forests were the safest places, although angels often found a way to get into those too.</p><p> </p><p>She parked her car and came into the bunker and was startled by the fact that the lights were on, there was a duffel bag sitting on the main table and a set of car keys.</p><p> </p><p>“Hello?” she called out loud, quickly reaching for the small handgun on her belt. Sam and Dean had assured her that the place was warded against angels, but Charlie wasn’t taking any chances.</p><p> </p><p>The young woman who appeared in the room, her own gun drawn, surprised Charlie. “Who are you?” she demanded defensively, aiming her gun up at Charlie as she stood on the balcony looking down at her.</p><p> </p><p>“Friend of the Winchesters,” Charlie explained, clutching her own gun. The two women found themselves at a draw. “Name’s Charlie, what’s yours?”</p><p> </p><p>The young woman stayed silent, arching a brow. She kept her weapon at the ready. Sighing, Charlie lowered her gun, holding her hands up to indicate peaceful intentions. Finally, the woman did the same. “Claire,” she said. “Claire Novak.”</p><p> </p><p>Charlie descended the stairs down to join Claire in the main room. “What are you doing here, Claire?” she asked curiously as she put her gun back into her belt and put her own duffel bag down on the table.</p><p> </p><p>“I was looking for Sam and Dean,” Claire explained. She stood there watching Charlie for a moment, brushing her long blonde hair back out of her face.</p><p> </p><p>“They’re working a case,” Charlie said hesitantly, not knowing how much she should tell this girl she just met. That Sam and Dean were working on a case involving the end of the world was probably not something she wanted to tell Claire at the moment.</p><p> </p><p>“And Castiel?” Claire asked as she sat down at the table, looking up at Charlie. “He’s with them?”</p><p> </p><p>Charlie nodded. “What did you need them for?” she asked. Claire shrugged.</p><p> </p><p>“I guess it doesn’t matter,” she said, reaching for her duffel bag. “I should go.”</p><p> </p><p>Charlie could tell she wasn’t telling her the whole truth. She reached out to touch Claire’s shoulder as she moved past her. “Hey, you don’t have to go,” she said. “I mean I could use your help if you're up for it.”</p><p> </p><p>Claire turned to look at her. Charlie noted she looked pretty young. “First, how old are you?”</p><p> </p><p>“I just turned 21,” Claire responded, narrowing her eyes. “What do you care? I’m a hunter, lady.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah I’ll bet,” Charlie said, rolling her eyes. This girl was barely old enough, and Charlie bet she didn’t have much experience with hunting. “Look this stuff, the things Sam and Dean are involved in, its sort of hard core so I was just making sure you were going to be old enough to deal.”</p><p> </p><p>“You don’t know anything about me,” Claire snapped defensively. The two women eyed one another for a long pause as if trying to figure one another out. Charlie gave a long sigh after a pause.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah well, I guess you have to start somewhere,” Charlie said. “Here,” She turned to her duffel bag and pulled out a slender rifle and handed it over. Claire took it cautiously before giving Charlie a puzzled look.</p><p> </p><p>“Look I need to reach out to hunters,” Charlie explained. “As many as we can reach. I’m sort of trying to raise an army.”</p><p> </p><p>“Great, what are we hunting? Claire gave her a bright smile, holding the rifle against her. “Werewolves? Vamps?”</p><p> </p><p>“Angels,” Charlie explained, and Claire’s expression immediately fell. Charlie looked at her. She couldn’t quite make out that expression. Fear? Anger? “I take it your familiar?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah,” Claire said slowly, sounding preoccupied as her eyes fell to the floor. Charlie watched as she set the rifle on the table and slowly sunk down into a chair, looking at her hands. “What did they do?”</p><p> </p><p>Charlie sat down in the chair next to her, leaning forward to focus in on her. “First tell me who you are to Sam and Dean,” she insisted. “Why did you come here?” Claire shrugged.</p><p> </p><p>“I just needed to get away,” she explained as she stared at her hands, not looking up at Charlie. “Thought this was the best place to start.”</p><p> </p><p>“Away from who, your parents?” Charlie prodded at her, prompting her to keep talking. Claire looked up at her, a snarky sneer on her face.</p><p> </p><p>“No one understands me at home,” Claire explained. “I want to be a hunter. I’m really good at it. Jody thinks I should go to college, lead some normal life and I just can’t do it.”</p><p> </p><p>“So you're out for a little adventure?” Charlie guessed, grinning a little. She couldn’t say she related. Her life had been one harrowing adventure after another in the past eight years, and she could honestly say she’d had her fill of adventure, but she could vaguely remember what it was like to have that kind of life. A life when things like getting along with parents, getting into the right college, trying to figure out what you were meant to be in life, were all so important. Now they all seemed to trivial. She almost longed for the days when she was in college, trying to squeeze by on a student’s salary, living off of ramen and take out. Part of her wanted to take Claire by the shoulders and shake her, trying to make her understand how good she had it, having a family and a house to live in.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah,” Claire said after a time. “I guess I just want to get out there. Get out on the road, travel, hunt. You know, like Sam and Dean.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well I have to say you picked a bad time to come here to find yourself,” Charlie replied. “But you’re here now I guess. You can tag along with me. But first, stop avoiding my questions.”</p><p> </p><p>Claire shrugged. “I’m uh their cousin,” she said hesitantly. Charlie narrowed her eyes suspiciously. She detected the insincerity in her voice and didn’t believe that for a second. “I’m their cousin from South Dakota.”</p><p> </p><p>Yeah, right,” Charlie said rolling her eyes. “Like that sounded sincere. Look, I don’t have time. I need to find hunters, you want to tag along, we’ll have to play 20 questions later.”</p><p> </p><p>With that, Charlie and Claire headed out of the bunker on their way to an adventure of their own.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The drive into Las Vegas was not an easy one for Hannah. They had been surrounded by the endless beauty of the desert. It seemed to stretch on forever and it filled Hannah with wonder. She’d never imagined that Earth could be this beautiful, this serene, and tranquil.</p><p> </p><p>The sun was just coming over the horizon and it’s orange rays split across the sky like thunder, illuminating the grassless expanse below. In a distance, Hannah spotted a lone coyote crossing the desert not far from the road. It darted off for the far away hills as they sped by. </p><p> </p><p>The Earth that Hannah had seen was a far cry from this. It was a desolate waste littered with bodies, the sky an endless cloud of despair. The massive angel spikes jutting from the ground designed to snag falling angels were notably absent.</p><p> </p><p>And then, with little warning, the peaceful landscape was interrupted as they sped into the city. Gradually, but quickly, Hannah was surrounded by people, other cars, and towering buildings. She immediately felt anxious, and though she hadn’t meant to, she uttered a soft gasp as, a few minutes later, they came upon the Las Vegas strip.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you alright?” Castiel asked and Hannah glanced at him. His eyes were fixed on the road as the activity outside the car forced him to stay alert, but when he could spare it, he glanced at her with concern. </p><p> </p><p>“Are they all like this?” She asked softly. She tried to steady herself, taking long breaths. “Human cities?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m afraid so,” he responded, apologetically. “It can be unsettling. Didn’t you experience this in your world?”</p><p> </p><p>Hannah shook her head. “I had little cause to leave heaven until after the apocalypse,” she explained. “Then I was ordered by Raphael to help guard the human camps. It was my first encounter with Earth in thousands of years. Much of the landscape was in ruins by the time I left heaven.”</p><p> </p><p>Castiel was silent, though he continued to dart a glance in her direction from time to time. “I’m sorry, but Gabriel likes to dwell in places like this,” he explained. “We would not be here otherwise.”</p><p> </p><p>Hannah watched him, regarding him for a moment. After her meltdown, they had said little to one another, the drive had been quiet. He’d shown her kindness, understanding, she hadn’t meant to share the horror she’d lived through with him, but he hadn’t tried to press her for more information. </p><p> </p><p>She was thankful for that. She’d been plagued with hauntings of the past ever since she first laid eyes on him back in Maine. He looked like her Castiel, he spoke like him. She felt inundated with mixed emotions that she didn’t know what to make of.</p><p> </p><p>Most angels didn’t become burdened with emotion, most lacked the ability to develop feelings or passions, but Hannah had. From the moment she had first arrived on Earth, her Earth, she had begun to feel them. Gradually, slowly at first, they were easy to ignore. But they’d begun to awaken within her, becoming harder and harder to brush aside. Every time she’d seen an angel abusing a human, it moved her. </p><p> </p><p>It was emotion that had compelled her to finally take action and it was emotion that still drove her. The feelings followed her, stayed with her through her torment. Every moment, every day that she had endured Raphael’s abuse and torture, her emotions came further and further into focus. Hatred, anger, fear, these were things she had honed within her, she had clung to them for so long.</p><p> </p><p>Charlie and her human sisters had taught her how to interpret feelings, how to control them and how to harness them. Hannah had seen what passionate creatures humans were and as her own passions developed, it was Charlie, Jo, and Eileen that helped her make sense of them. </p><p> </p><p>But none of them had prepared her for the possibility of seeing Castiel again. Even if he wasn’t the Castiel she knew, he felt familiar, and it scared her. She’d never gotten over his loss and her guilt over it, and now, here he was. He was the same gentle, kind, compassionate angel she’d known. </p><p> </p><p>“I have emotion,” she announced softly as she eyed the people, cars, buildings around them, feeling trepidation as Castiel slowed the car as traffic slowed to a trickle. </p><p> </p><p>“Tell me what you are feeling,” he responded as he maneuvered through the cars towards the hotels and casinos that made up the Las Vegas strip. “You aren’t planning to jump out of the car, are you?”</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t like this,” she informed him, feeling her breath become increasingly hard to draw in as her heart hammered in her throat. “So closed in… I can’t, Castiel…” she urged him, looking at him pleadingly. </p><p> </p><p>“Close your eyes,” he instructed, looking at her sympathetically. “And trust me.”</p><p> </p><p>She looked at him, wincing from the intense anxiety welling up inside of her, the feeling was almost suffocating. It was a strange sensation, as she didn’t really need to breathe, being an angel, but in this instance, it felt as though she couldn’t get enough oxygen. She gasped, again and again, as a thick fog seemed to envelop her mind. </p><p> </p><p>“Hannah,” Castiel’s calm, yet firm voice cut through the fog, suddenly very audible. “I’ll help you through this. Just do as I instruct you.” He reached with one hand, holding his hand up before her as she tensed.</p><p> </p><p>Hannah hesitated, staring at his hand. She’d had a very strong aversion to physical touch. The pain, the torment, the abuse, the way Raphael and the other angels had used physical touch to hurt her, it left a scar so deep, she couldn’t bare the sensation of having another being touch her skin. </p><p> </p><p>Castiel seemed to be aware of this, as he only held his hand out to her, willing her to make the first move. “You don’t have to,” he said, “but it’ll help calm your feelings.”</p><p> </p><p>Hannah wasn’t sure if she could trust Castiel, but she desperately wanted to. She swallowed, trying to swallow her fears as she finally placed her hand in his. His hand was warm, but unmoving, he allowed her to control the gesture. </p><p> </p><p>“Now close your eyes,” he instructed and she did so, laying her head back in her seat. “Tune out the noises you hear and focus on my voice.”</p><p> </p><p>With effort, Hannah willed her mind to focus on the sound of Castiel’s calm voice, on the feeling of the warmth in his hand. As he spoke, he kept his hand in hers. “We’re almost there,” he said calmly. </p><p> </p><p>It was working. The fog began to ebb away with every word as he continued to give her words of encouragement. This went on for a long while until she hadn’t even noticed that the car had stopped. </p><p> </p><p>“Open your eyes,” he said. Hannah focused back into the world around her and found it was quiet. When she opened her eyes, she found they were in a parking structure. It was dark but quiet. She glanced over to see him looking intently at her, his hand still suspended in the air, supporting hers. “Better?” he asked. </p><p> </p><p>Hannah nodded sincerely, slowly taking her hand away as he moved to get out of the car. She felt much calmer as she watched him walk around to her side of the car, and open the door, kneeling down in front of her. “How did you learn to do that?” she asked softly, looking down into his face. </p><p> </p><p>“Sam Winchester,” he said with a small smirk. “He’s had to try a similar technique with Dean many times, before Dean resorts to irrational violence as a means of expressing his emotions. He claims it has saved the destruction of many of their possessions many times.”</p><p> </p><p>Hannah studied Castiel’s deep blue eyes, as he gazed up at hers. “Is this where we will find Gabriel?” she asked softly, vaguely aware of other emotions that she couldn’t quite interpret. </p><p> </p><p>“Yes,” he said. He moved to stand up but frowned. “There will be large crowds,” he explained. “And noises. You will not be able to close your eyes for it.”</p><p> </p><p>Hannah winced, feeling afraid. “Must I?” she asked, pleadingly, dreading the sensations, especially without the protective shell of the car. </p><p> </p><p>He nodded sympathetically. “I’m afraid so,” he said. He held up his hand again. “I know you are frightened of this,” he said. “Whatever they did to you, it’s caused this fear you have. But if you let it go, just once, and trust me, I promise nothing will hurt you.”</p><p> </p><p>Hannah hesitated. It went against everything she was to trust anyone but her sisters. Especially another angel. But Castiel had helped her so much already. He’d been calm through the turbulence of her emotions, had been understanding, kind, and patient, she felt compelled to give him her trust. If only for the moment. She finally reached forward and grabbed his hand, squeezing tight, as if trying to get used to the feeling of his skin in hers. </p><p> </p><p>He stood up and hoisted her to her feet and the two walked through the parking structure. He led her to the elevator.</p><p> </p><p>He hadn’t been lying when he had warned her of the crowds and the noises. She was instantly assaulted by the sound of the casino around her. Humans everyone, talking, shouting, the sounds of machines, the blasting lights of various colors, all around her brought her anxiety right back. </p><p> </p><p>Sensing her emotion, Castiel squeezed her hand as he led her through the crowds. “Don’t let go,” he insisted as people moved past them, some brushing past her, making her jump. </p><p> </p><p>They managed to make it to the reception area of the hotel and Castiel guided Hannah to the desk. Hannah stayed close to him but pulled out of his hand to grip the smooth, cool wood of the reception desk. As Castiel spoke to the woman behind the counter, Hannah was suddenly aware of a presence. She glanced over and met eye contact with a large, bunky man who stood just a few feet from her. Dressed in a suit, holding a briefcase, he flashed her a suggestive grin. </p><p> </p><p>“First time to Vegas?” he asked as he slimmed back his greying hair. He glanced towards Castiel. “Husband?”</p><p> </p><p>At first, Hannah wasn’t sure he was talking to her, but he moved closer to her, which promptly made her tense up. “No,” she said, responding to both questions in a tone that conveyed her disinterest in him.</p><p> </p><p>“Tell me did it hurt when you fell from heaven?” he asked with a wide grin. “Because you are as pretty as any angel I ever saw.”</p><p>Hannah was bewildered by that statement, “yes of course it hurt,” she responded curtly as if it should have been obvious. At that moment, Castiel turned and saw the situation. </p><p> </p><p>“Come on, Hannah,” he said, grabbing her hand again, before fixing the man with a warning glare. Hannah followed him as he led her away, leaving the man in their wake. </p><p> </p><p>They made the journey up to their hotel room quickly and swiftly and as soon as they were inside, Hannah let out a breath of relief. </p><p> </p><p>“I don't understand,” Hannah murmured as she sat down on the edge of one of the beds while Castiel moved to the window and glanced down at the view below. He glanced at her and shrugged. </p><p> </p><p>“That is what is called a pick up line,” he explained. “He was trying to impress you with his weak attempts of flattery.”</p><p> </p><p>“He brought up the fall of angels,” she said distastefully. “He couldn’t know what it felt like.”</p><p> </p><p>“He doesn’t,” Castiel pointed out. “Humans have crude ways of speaking to one another, they often rely on innuendos and metaphors to suggest what they want.”</p><p> </p><p>“What did he want with me?” Hannah began to relax and calm in the safety of their hotel room, and after a time, she moved to the window beside Castiel and gazed down at the view below. They were very high and the confusion of cars and people looked like ants in the streets below.</p><p> </p><p>“It is best not to dwell on it,” Castiel pointed out. He was about to say more when there was an abrupt knock on the door. “Stay here,” he instructed as he pulled an angel blade from his belt and approached the door.</p><p> </p><p>Hannah watched uneasily as Castiel cautiously opened the door and peered out into the hallway. After a few seconds, he moved back, opening the door more and Hannah frowned at who was at the other end.</p><p> </p><p>“Gabriel,” Castiel murmured as he let the archangel inside. “We were-”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Gabriel glanced at Hannah’s direction and winked, “hey long time no see,” he greeted before turning back to Castiel as the latter closed the door and followed him back into the room. </p><p> </p><p>“How did you know we were looking?” Hannah questioned as Castiel and Gabriel joined her by the window.</p><p> </p><p>“Like I can’t sense a tracking spell,” Gabriel replied, rolling his eyes as he lowered himself down onto one of the beds and made himself comfortable, propping up an elbow to face them. “What can I do you both for?”</p><p> </p><p>Castiel and Hannah exchanged confused glances before Castiel turned to the subject at hand. “We need your help, brother,” he replied. “Heaven is dying. You may be our only hope.”</p><p> </p><p>With that, Castiel sat down and began to explain the extent of their dilemma and the conversation stretched on into the day.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“So let me see if I understand this,” Gabriel leaned against the hotel window while Castiel sat at the table and Hannah perched at the end of the bed. Castiel had just finished filling Gabriel in on the situation both in the apocalypse world and in this world. Gabriel squinted his eyes as if he hadn’t quite absorbed everything. “We have two worlds. In one, my big bro decided to wipe out humans altogether and in the other, it's all going dark upstairs because there are not enough angels?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes,” Castiel explained. “Which is why we need your help, Gabriel. I know what Asmodeus did was-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah hold up,” Gabriel held up a hand. “Let’s not even go there. You don’t know what Asmodeus did to me so don’t bother trying to get all Dr. Phil on me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Castiel sighed. He was no stranger to torture. He couldn’t forget the suffering he’d endured in the past, often at the hands of other angels, but he realized that Gabriel, and Hannah, had both been damaged by their torture and although Gabriel seemed to have returned to his usual mischevious self, the damage was still clear in his demeanor. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t care to save the angels,” Hannah spoke up suddenly after having remained silent up to this point. Castiel wasn’t sure she had even been paying attention. She seemed to have been lost in her own thoughts, sitting there quietly on the bed while he and Gabriel exchanged words. But now, he and Gabriel turned their attention to her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Come again, sister?” Gabriel raised a brow.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t see why we must help the angels,” she repeated, glancing nervously at Castiel before turning back to Gabriel. “Perhaps they are getting what they deserve.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Castiel sighed and looked at Gabriel who just stared in disbelief. “She’s from the other world, the one where Michael…” he trailed off as Gabriel got the picture. “Raphael, he hurt her. She has no love for her own kind and after her treatment, I can’t say I blame her.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hannah just hung her head and stared at her hands in her lap. Gabriel sighed, “Okay, you got my attention,” he said after a long pause. “What’s the plan?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We must save the angels,” Castiel replied, glancing at Hannah in sympathy as he did. “In this world. I agree they and I have not seen eye to eye in the past, Naomi in particular.” Castiel shuddered as he remembered Naomi’s torture of him. He caught Hannah’s eye and she recognized that look, she gave him a puzzled expression of her own.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What did Naomi do to you?” she asked bluntly. “Why does saying her name cause you discomfort?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She and I had some… dealings,” Castiel explained. “Unpleasant ones, I’m afraid. If she were not one of the last angels alive, I doubt we would be seeing eye to eye right now.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She hurt you?” Hannah guessed. Castiel shrugged and nodded. Hannah looked at him in disbelief. “Then why would you want to help her?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Because the angels, despite my past with them, they’re family,” Castiel explained, giving Gabriel a pointed glance. Gabriel rolled his eyes in reply. “And right now, they need me. Need us. It’s the right thing to do, Hannah.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hannah shook her head, wincing as if in pain as she turned her focus back to her hands. Castiel looked at Gabriel. “It’s the right thing to do, Gabriel,” he repeated. “Please, brother.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gabriel gave a long huff. “Fine,” he said. “I’ve been running long enough, I guess. Look, I kinda sorta have a… bold plan. It’s risky but it might just work.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What is it?” Castiel asked eagerly, noting that Hannah turned her attention to Gabriel. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Remember when Metatron caused a fall?” Gabriel didn’t need to remind Castiel of that, just the mention of it made Castiel bristle with anger towards Metatron. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How could I forget?” he murmured. If this were the Hannah from this world, she would have remembered too, it was shortly after the fall that she and Castiel had met for the first time, and the friendship that grew between them was still fresh in Castiel’s mind. But this Hannah knew none of it. Yet despite her more timid, cautious outlook, Castiel sensed that perhaps the Hannah he knew before might still exist, perhaps buried under the years of trauma and hardship she’d endured.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well… what if we caused another fall?” Gabriel suggested then held up a hand when both angels looked at him incredulously. “I know the angels have to stay up there to keep the lights on and to keep all the souls locked up. But if you remember that when Metatron pulled his little trick, heaven was emptied of angels and nothing happened? It’s because he sort of put it on lockdown. Froze the place down. We could do something similar.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But the angels would die,” Hannah replied. “The fall would kill them.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not necessarily,” Gabriel replied. “I know a spell. An elixir I learned from my time hanging with the Norse gods. The ingredients are complicated but if Naomi and her posse drink the elixir, it forms a protective shield around them and they’d survive the fall. The tricky part is what to do with them once they get down here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll get them somewhere safe,” Castiel replied. “If the demons get wind of this, they’ll be more than eager to pick off the last remaining angels in heaven. Sam, Dean, and I will be there to battle them and to protect the angels. Then we’ll lock the angels up somewhere. Somewhere demon proof and angel proof, until we can replenish their numbers, they will stay locked away.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Here comes the tricky part,” Gabriel said. “Getting the ingredients for the two spells. The first you already know. To lock out heaven and cause the fall we need a cupid’s arrow hand, an angel’s grace, and the heart of a Nephilim.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What about Jack?” Hannah turned to Castiel and Cas was surprised and alarmed she’d suggested it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’ve met Jack?” he asked, raising a brow. Hannah nodded. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not personally, but Charlie told us about him. He is Lucifer’s son.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He is but he is locked in the apocalypse world and even if he weren’t,” Castiel shook his head, looking at Hannah, feeling disappointed that she’s so casually suggested hurting him. “Jack is important to me, I will not kill him.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But he is a Nephilim,” Hannah pointed out. Castiel held up a hand, trying to swallow the rush of anger he suddenly felt. Hannah had no reason to trust him, Jack or anyone else, and it made sense to her, but he couldn’t help but get defensive of Jack, the Nephilim he’d come to see as his own son. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hannah sighed in defeat and looked down. “There is another Nephilim,” she said, a hint of reluctance in her voice. “In my world. She worked at the camp where Raphael…” she trailed away, pursing her lips tightly, clearly having trouble forming words. “She and I were friends until she betrayed me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Still the tiny problem of getting her here,” Gabriel pointed out. “I don’t have enough mojo to open the rift, but there is someone who does.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Castiel sighed. “Lucifer,” he groaned. Hannah looked at him with fear, her blue eyes widening with the mention of Lucifer. But Castiel sighed reluctantly. “Alright so we need the ingredients to open the rift, the ingredients to cause a fall of angels, and what about the elixir?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s another tricky one,” Gabriel explained. “For that one, we need a piece of the arc of the covenant, a mummified locust from the 10 plagues, the blood of an empty vessel, and a werewolf heart.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Very well,” Castiel replied. He looked at Gabriel, grateful that the archangel was willing to help with this project. “We will embark on this scavenger hunt and when we return, you will have created a safe house for the angels?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yup,” Gabriel said cheerfully. He turned serious for a moment, “you know there is no guarantee this will all work,” he reminded him. “And if it doesn’t we could be responsible for destroying heaven.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know,” Castiel knew this all to well and he had a sickening feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach concerning what he was going to do. “There is a lot that can go wrong. But we have to try.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“THere’s one more little favor before I skip out,” Gabriel replied quickly. Castiel nodded. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Anything,” he said sincerely. Gabriel was willing to risk everything and Castiel was willing to do a favor for him, whatever it might be.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There’s this girl I know. No one too important,” Castiel narrowed his eyes suspiciously, feeling uneasy about where this was going.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No porn stars, Gabriel,” he warned. Gabriel held up a hand. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No nothing like that. Well… not completely. Her name is Annika Cawsand. She lives somewhere in Central California. I just want you to find her for me, when you do, you’ll understand.” Castiel felt uneasy about the cryptic, vague talk Gabriel was using, but he was willing to trust him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sam is in California now,” Castiel replied. “We can go meet up with him and find your friend. I will call him and Dean and somehow, we will gather all the ingredients we need. It may take time.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah it will,” Gabriel agreed. “Tell those muttonheads I’ll check up on them. In the meantime, I have an angel fun house to build.” And with that, Gabriel was gone, instantly vanished from the room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Castiel turned his attention to Hannah. She met his eyes, her pretty blue eyes wide with fear and uncertainty. “We should head to California and meet Sam,” he suggested softly. “I know you will be pleased to leave this city.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You truly mean to do this?” she asked, studying him intently. She seemed confused, bewildered by the whole situation. “Just to help the angels? Even if they’ve hurt you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’d understand if you have reservations,” Castiel replied cautiously. “And I know this is going to cause you discomfort. I regret asking this of you, but if we go to the apocalypse world, I will need your help finding this Nephilim. Will you help me?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know you,” Hannah replied before getting to her feet. Castiel did the same and moved to stand in front of her, focusing his attention on her, locking his eyes with hers, if briefly before she shuttered a little and looked away, squeezing her eyes shut in a wince. “But the Castiel I knew was kind and I got him killed.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You mustn’t blame yourself for that,” Castiel insisted, frowning at the way she shook slightly, he worried she was on the verge of another breakdown. He paused, waiting for her to compose herself. “Take deep breaths,” he encouraged. She did so, breathing in and out, and eventually calming, though the wince stayed in her eyes as she opened them to look at him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I still don’t want to help the angels,” she admitted. “I can’t forgive them as easily as you can. But… for him- you… I’ll help you, Castiel.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m grateful,” he told her sincerely. “For your bravery. Come,” he offered her his hand. At first, she hesitated, but remembering the chaos of humans in the hotel, she took it, gripping tight as they headed for the next part of their adventure.</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>